Born for Adversity
by StudentofNarnia
Summary: Brothers are born for adversity, but so far from home will the Pevensie brothers survive this time?
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: Narnia...not mine. What you recognize...not mine. What you don't recognize...MINE!**

_A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity – Proverbs 17:17_

"Sixty Crescents! Sixty Crescents!"

"Sixty-four! Sixty-four Crescents!"

"Seventy! Seventy Crescents!"

The smells and loud shouting nearly overwhelmed me as I stood on the platform listening to my fate being decided and praying for a miracle that I knew with every call was fading into nothingness. The bidding war had dwindled 'til only three men vied with each other to buy me. I was twelve and I still hadn't had another growth spurt so I knew they were looking at my wiry (not skinny like my sister insists) frame and wondering if I would even survive whatever it was they wanted a slave to do in this desolate country. It was a complete contrast to what had happened when my brother had been dragged up here about an hour ago. I scanned the crowd of faces, but I couldn't spot my brother or the man who had bought him at the price of four hundred Crescents. A small seed of despair wormed its way into my heart as I realized I might never see my brother again this side of Aslan's country.

The man who had bid seventy Crescents was eyeing me with a strange hunger in his eyes that made me want to flinch away or better yet find a blade and use it to defend myself. Of course, that line of thinking was about as useful as pretending I could close my eyes and wake up to find this whole ordeal was just some sort of horrible nightmare. I did not want to go with oily little man who was staring at me with that strange hunger mixed with triumph as first one of his opponents then the other ceased bidding. Oh sweet Lion, don't let me go with him!

The slaver running the auction opened his mouth and then I heard the same rough voice call out, "One hundred and fifty Crescents!"

Every eye turned to the oily little man who let loose a coarse set of curses that didn't impress me in the least. I knew far worse…don't tell my sister. The slaver took that as surrender and called out that I was sold. The slaver's guards led me down the rough stone steps with a few unnecessary prods at my sore back with the butts of their spears and then I was shoved into the line with the other slaves. I quickly leaned to my left in an attempt to see around the scarred back of the huge man in front of me, searching for a glimpse of my brother. I silently thanked Aslan when I at last spotted him standing near the cloaked man who had purchased us and these other slaves. It seemed I was the last purchase of the day for the man made a curt gesture and the line of chained men and boys began walking away from the slave market, away from the center of this coarse town, and out into one of the most desolate countries I had ever seen.

I am Edmund Pevensie, Just King of Narnia, and my brother is Peter Pevensie, High King of Narnia, but now my brother and I are nameless slaves heading for an unknown fate. How did we go from a simple ride through the Lantern Waste to this place? And, more importantly, how are we going to get out of this mess?

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**Author Note: First story. Let me know what you think. Should I go back and explain how the boys got to the slave market or just proceed from this point?**


	2. Chapter 2

_**Disclaimer: Narnia...not mine. What you recognize...not mine. What you don't recognize...MINE!**_

_A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity – Proverbs 17:17_

It was hard to walk chained wrists and neck to the men in front of me. It didn't help that I couldn't see around the huge man in front of me. I silently grumbled about still not being taller. The land here was harsh, coarse, brown, dead, and inhospitable. The complete opposite of Narnia, in fact it brought to mind the memories of that other place, Spare Oom…England. The cloaked man who had bought all of us rode a horse that was well cared for, but there must have been thirty men and boys chained together on foot. It slowed our progress. I found myself thanking Aslan for Oreius and all his drills he'd been pounding into Peter and me for the past two years. Especially the running exercises he made us do in full armor in all types of weather to build up our stamina. I'll never complain about those exercises again…well, it would actually most likely be a month or so, but I wouldn't complain anytime soon if…no when we got back to Narnia.

I tried counting my steps but after the first two thousand steps, that became far more tedious than any lesson I had ever sat through in my life. So, I looked for markers. Signs in the land we could use to make our escape. Peter was probably doing the same thing…I hoped he was having more luck at it than I. Hours passed until my legs were burning, my mouth was dry, and both my wrists and my neck chafed at the weight of my chains. There was nothing in this land that stuck out as a marker that I could see. I felt a tiny lift of hope when I spotted a pile of rocks…a cairn! But then we walked a little further and I saw another cairn and another and another and another. When we rounded the bend, the little flicker of hope died. The land was covered in hundreds of these cairns. I looked around and spotted Peter's fair head near the front of the line. I could tell by how he stood that he was both puzzled and trying to figure out why the cairns were there. I was trying to decide how we could use the cairns to sneak away.

The cloaked man halted his horse and barked an order. The guards dismounted from their horses and staked the chain connecting all of us, all the slaves, together to the ground. I sat, more thankful for the break than I was willing to admit, and waited as the cloaked man rode down the line. He had to want something…it was just a matter of discovering it. The man stopped in front of me and I could feel him staring at me from beneath his hood, but then he turned his horse and signaled the guards again before he rode back toward the head of the line where a small campfire had been set up. I guess we were staying here for the night…I didn't much care for the accommodations to be honest.

The guards gave us water and stiff jerky. As I chewed and chewed and drank and chewed some more, I let my mind drift to what had happened that Narnia's two Kings were now slaves sitting in the middle of a desolate wilderness…

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**Author Note: Sorry about the shortness of this chapter. I didn't know how to combine both passt and present in the same chapter without it seeming goofy. Anyways, thanks to WillowDryad and Guest for your reviews. They really encouraged me to write this chapter. Should I include parts from Peter's point of view or should I keep it in Edmund's? If you've survived the so-called Mayan doomsday, celebrate by leaving a review! :D**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: Narnia...not mine. What you recognize...not mine. What you don't recognize...MINE!**

_A friend loves at all times, And a brother is born for adversity – Proverbs 17:17_

I smirked as I watched Peter struggling to keep the two Naiads from dumping him in the river. Philip snorted, "If your brother didn't want to get wet, why did he have us stop by the Naiads' playground?"

I shrugged, "It's Peter, apparently he can't help but find trouble of all varieties."

Philip nudged my shoulder with his muzzle, "You both can get into equal amounts of trouble according to your sisters, not to mention the General." The Horse stared down at me with one large liquid brown eye and snorted, "Of course, I doubt the General will be pleased when he learns of this excursion."

I started to reply, but just then Peter let out a great shout as the Naiads finally pulled him into the river. He sat up spluttering amid the giggles of the Naiads. Then he bowed, somehow pulling off an aura of magnificent royalty even though he was dripping river water everywhere, don't ask me how he does it, he's Peter and he just does it. "Ladies, we have very much enjoyed the refreshing time spent with your lovely company, but I fear my brother and I must continue on. Aslan be with you."

The Naiads giggled, "And with you, High King, Just King. You must come play with us again sometime soon."

Philip shook his head as Peter dripped past us and pulled himself into the saddle of his fiery little mare, Ginger. I snickered and Peter gave me a mock glare before we both waved to the merry Naiads as we rode away. "Don't laugh, Ed. Next time it will be you they pull in."

I shook my head, "Oh no it won't because I know better than to play in the Naiads' playground."

Peter smirked, "Oh yes, you will, my brother. Because I explained to the Naiads that you were just a little shy and weren't quite so strong a swimmer as to be comfortable in their playground. The ladies most graciously offered to teach you to be a better swimmer. And I most graciously accepted on your behalf."

I gave him a horrified look, "What?" Philip snorted with poorly contained laughter, "It's not funny, Philip. Peter, I can swim just fine."

"You don't swim anywhere near as well as Susan does."

I snorted, "Neither do you. Maybe _you _need swimming lessons from the Naiads."

Peter smirked, "I'm not the one they think is in desperate need of swimming lessons. That would be you."

I glared at him, "I am going to get you for this, Pevensie."

He chuckled and encouraged Ginger into a gallop, shouting as he raced ahead, "You'll have to catch me first!"

I looked at Philip, "You're not going to let a dumb mare beat you, are you, Philip?"

He snorted, slightly insulted I even asked the question. "Of course not. Hang on!" He launched into a gallop while I hunkered down close to his neck. We quickly caught up to Peter, first Philip's nose was even with Ginger's hindquarters, then her flanks, then he pulled up so Peter and I were right across from each other before Philip put on another burst of speed and we sailed ahead of Peter. I threw my hands up and let out a whoop of excitement when Philip and I crossed the smaller stream.

Peter laughed as he and Ginger finally caught up, "Well done, Philip, and congratulations on not falling off this time, Ed."

I scowled at him, "Once. That happened once. And, at least I only fell off once. How many times have you fallen off either your horse or Jasper?" Peter held up his hands in silent surrender because we both knew that Peter had fallen off the Unicorn Jasper who served as his war mount more times in the first day of our lessons with Oreius, right before Beruna, than he cared to admit.

We rode in silence for awhile enjoying the quiet as we ventured deeper into the Lantern Waste. But, then Philip spoke up, "You know the General is going to have quite a bit to say about this excursion when we get back to the Cair."

I exchanged a slightly guilty look with Peter. We had snuck out of the Cair three days earlier without a guard, which was something Oreius hated, but at least this time we remembered to leave a note saying we were fine and were just taking a few days holiday. Hopefully, that meant we wouldn't ride back into the Cair only to find a full-scale rescue party was in the process of putting out to find us and our kidnappers like the last time we had snuck out…we had forgotten about the threat from a disgruntled minor lord from Archenland to kidnap us when we left. I patted Philip's neck, "We just needed a break, Philip. And, if you don't approve, why did you come?"

Philip snorted and tossed his head, "Because someone had to come along to keep you foals out of trouble and it certainly wasn't going to be Ginger."

Peter and I shared a grin then I leaned forward, "Don't worry, we're not even close to the border and there've been no Fell Beasts sighted in the area for months. I promise we'll be careful, Susan."

Philip snorted and tossed his head again, but I knew he thought it was funny I had compared him to my big sister since he was well aware of how she did like to fuss and worry over us. Peter and I continued riding for some time until Ginger suddenly tossed her head, whinnying as she pranced nervously. Peter struggled to calm her for several minutes. When she finally stood still, I placed my hand on Philip's warm neck, "Do you know what's set her off, Philip?"

Philip lifted his head, testing the air, and I watched his ears swivel back and forth before he pawed the ground with one hoof. "I can't sense anything, your majesties, but the wind's shifted again. Perhaps she can sense something I can't. We should turn back now, your majesties. We don't have enough protection here should something fell be heading toward us."

I looked at Peter and he dropped his hand to Rhindon as he nodded, "That seems the wisest course." I dropped my hand to the hilt of my own sword as Philip and Ginger swung around ready to head back to a more populated area and then chaos found us on the swift wings of disaster.

A shout, no a battle cry sounded to my left and I immediately pulled my sword from my scabbard. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Peter mirroring my actions as he nudged Ginger closer to Philip so we could fight back to back as Oreius had been drilling into us for the last two years. But, then we weren't attacked with weapons. Instead, ropes came sailing out. Peter slashed through one and I slashed through another. We slashed at the ropes, trying to urge our mounts forward at the same time, but then a crowd of armored soldiers surrounded us. More ropes flew and landed on us, yanking us off Philip and Ginger, and causing us to be unable to fight back properly as our arms and legs became further tangled in the ropes until we were unable to fight back as the men jerked our swords out of our hands. I heard Peter ordering Philip to go for help as Ginger fled, but then I felt something hard hit the back of my head.

I couldn't remember anything after that moment. When I finally came to, I found myself gagged, in chains, and with a bag over my head. I grunted and heard a faint answering grunt. I both hoped and feared it was Peter. I stayed there bound, muted, and blind, only knowing that the men around us were slavers and we were going somewhere far from Narnia, somewhere where Northerners fetched a high price in the flourishing slave trade. At first, I wondered if we might find ourselves in Calormen, but the accents I could heard through the bag were wrong. Later when I was finally released from the bag, I was both relieved and saddened to see Peter a few feet away from me…I had harbored an irrational hope that maybe Peter had escaped. We looked at each other, silently promising to stay firm and to escape. I couldn't say for sure how many days we had been gone by the time the bag was first taken off, but at least four more days passed before we finally reached that coarse town and its slave market…

I jerked awake as one of the guards pulled me upright. We were going to march again. I looked around and spotted Peter looking back toward me. I gave a quick nod of my head, reassuring him that I was all right. He nodded solemnly and then we moved out.

Aslan, where are we going? Have our sisters realized we're missing? Do they fear we are dead? Are they searching for us? Did Philip make it home alright? How long are we going to be slaves in this place? What does the cloaked man who bought us want?

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**Author Note: Please Review! My longest chapter yet, hopefully you'll like it. Please let me know in a review whether or not you want me to continue this story. Also, should I tell the Narnian side of things? Who should narrate? I'm not very good at writing Susan and Lucy, but who would you like to see narrating?**


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